BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China's trade surplus reached 16.68billion U.S. dollars in April, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday.
The figure was down 1.14 percent year-on-year but up 24.5 percent from 13.4 billion U.S. dollars in March, and it almost doubled the 8.6 billion U.S. dollars posted in February.
Exports in April rose 21.8 percent over April last year to 118.71 billion U.S. dollars, while imports rose 26.3 percent to 102.03 billion U.S. dollars.
Trade with the EU, China's largest trade partner, rose 25.4 percent to 129.86 billion U.S. dollars.
The United States secured its place as the second largest trade partner with China, with a total trade volume of 102.34 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.4 percent.
Trade with Japan and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations came to 84.69 billion and 75.14 billion U.S. dollars.
The year-on-year decline reflected weakening external demand caused by the continuing global credit crisis, as well as the government's prudent monetary policy to reduce excessive liquidity, said Zhao Jinping, an economist of the Development Research Center(DRC) of the State Council.
The continued strengthening of the yuan was a more significant factor in helping narrow the trade gap, said Zhao. The yuan's central parity rate against the U.S. dollar surged 185 basis points to 6.98 on Monday. The currency has risen 4.26 percent against the U.S. dollar so far this year.
The credit crisis in the United States could affect other countries and demand could fall as the economy fell into recession, affecting Chinese exports, said Zhao.
Zhang Liqun, an economist from the DRC, said a sharp slowdown in exports could cause serious problems for the overall economy.
Total trade in the first four months hit 791.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 24.4 percent year-on-year. The four-month trade surplus was 58 billion U.S. dollars, down 5.32 billion U.S. dollars year-on-year.
Exports in the four-month period were 424.6 billion
U.S. dollars, up 21.5 percent, or 6 percentage points less than a year earlier.
Imports were 366.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 27.9 percent, or 8.8 percentage
points more than a year earlier.
China's monthly CPI rebounds to
8.5%
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI),the main gauge of inflation, rose 8.5 percent year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
The figure, compared with 8.3 percent in March and a
nearly 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February, was broadly in line with most
forecasts. Full story
PBOC: Cutting inflation to remain top
goal
BEIJING, May 11 -- China's monetary authorities are
struggling to address conflicting policy goals, but inflation will remain the
top policy concern, the country's central bank governor said on Saturday.
While the United States and other countries are more
focused on fending off a recession, China's monetary policy must target
inflation over growth and employment, Zhou Xiaochuan, the People's Bank of China
governor, told a forum in Lujiazui, Shanghai's financial center. Full story
Banker: Reducing trade surplus key to
growth
BEIJING, May 11 -- China needs to cut its high
savings rate to boost consumption and reduce the trade surplus, People's Bank
of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Saturday.
"The government has pledged to boost consumption and
cut the surpluses in trade and capital accounts," Zhou said at the Lujiazui
Forum 2008 in Shanghai. That "requires that we reduce the current high savings
ratio," he said. Full story
China keeps stable domestic grain
market
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Amid a major wave of
international grain price hikes, China has managed to maintain stable domestic
prices.
Wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged
more than 140 percent in March, and rice prices went up over 80 percent.Full story
China's producer price index up 8.1%
in April
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua)
-- The producer price index (PPI) for China's industrial products rose 8.1
percent in April over the same month last year, putting on more pressure on the
nation's inflation rate, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.
The factory-gate prices of raw materials, fuel and power
were up 11.8 percent. Full story
Inflation expected to go down in
Q2
BEIJING, May 7 -- Inflation could dip to 7.5 percent
in the second quarter from 8 percent in the first, but inflationary pressures
will stay strong because of surging grain prices and robust investment, said a
top government think tank.
"Seasonal changes and government measures to boost
agricultural supplies may cause consumer prices to slide in the second quarter,"
the State Information Center said in a report. "But inflationary pressure is
still mounting because of domestic and international factors." Full story
